With Alipay Transfer you can send money from your East West Bank account to your own or another individual’s personal Alipay account in China. The funds will be delivered in CNY, with East West Bank’s applicable real time foreign exchange rate displayed prior to submission.

All you need to get started is your recipient’s Alipay ID and full name; and the purpose of transfer needs to be for one of the following reasons: “Home Remittance” or “Salary” / “Payment for goods” /” Payment for services.”

Note: Currently, the Alipay Transfer service is available only to East West Bank checking or savings accounts with a U.S. mailing address.

No.  Currently, we only support Alipay transfers to accounts in mainland China. Additionally, the account holder must be a Chinese national.

Goods payment: If you (the buyer) have made a sales deal with an end recipient (the seller) via a cross-border e-commerce platform, and you are purchasing goods that fall within one of the allowed for purchase description categories, you can choose to remit payment for the goods to the seller’s designated bank card bound Alipay account by selecting “Goods payment” in our Alipay Transfer service.

Goods payment categories currently supported:
(1) Clothes / bags / shoes / hats / luggage;
(2) Daily supplies and cosmetics;
(3) Electronics and home appliances;
(4) Toys / Children’s Products.

Below is a scenario to illustrate what Alipay considers a “Goods payment”:

Q1: The seller and I (the buyer) know each other and have agreed to buy and sell directly through an e-commerce platform. The seller will ship the goods to me cross-border. Can I use the Alipay Transfer service to make a “Goods payment” to the seller?

A. In general, this scenario refers to the sale and purchase of goods through cross-border e-commerce. If you and the seller have signed a corresponding cross-border sales contract or agreement and if the type of product(s) purchased falls within one of the allowed for purchase description categories, then you can try to remit the payment to the seller as a “Goods payment” using our Alipay Transfer service. However, if the transaction is only completed via online chat tools, your payment does not qualify as a “Goods payment.”

Service payment: If you (the receiver of the service) signed a service contract with an end recipient (the service provider), and the service falls within one of the allowed for service description categories, you can choose to remit payment for the service to the seller’s designated bank card bound Alipay account by selecting “Service payment” in our Alipay Transfer service.

Service payment categories currently supported:
(1) Interpretation services;
(2) Translation services;
(3) Human resource services;
(4) Real estate services;
(5) Software development services;
(6) Web design or development services;
(7) Legal documentation services;
(8) Legal related certification services;
(9) Accounting services;
(10) Tax services;
(11) Interior design services;
(12) Advertising services;
(13) Market research services;
(14) Exhibition booth services

No. The recipient’s delivery amount will be based on the foreign exchange rate confirmed with you prior to submission.

Note: the foreign exchange rate is only guaranteed for a single transfer attempt. If the Alipay transfer is unable to be processed or is otherwise returned, a new foreign exchange rate will be applied to any re-submission requests.

After we successfully process your Alipay transfer request and debit the funds from your account, we’ll send you an email indicating the date when the funds will be delivered to your recipient.

Generally, it can take from minutes to 4 days for your recipient to receive the money.

Delivery timing will depend on the following:

This is the first time your recipient is receiving an international transfer: As a result, their Alipay account may not have a designated linked bank account. Alipay will send a notification to the recipient asking them to choose a designated linked bank account. Your recipient will have 72 hours after your transfer submission to designate a valid receiving bank account. If the recipient fails to complete this action, Alipay will cancel the request and return the funds.

Alipay or the receiving bank may need to perform verifications that can take up to 96 hours: Occasionally, for recipients with a designed linked bank account, Alipay and/or the receiving bank may need to perform additional verifications. If the verification is not complete within 96 hours, Alipay will cancel the request and return the funds.

To initiate an Alipay transfer to a new recipient on the Mobile App, select Transfer & Pay>Transfers> Add a new recipient>select Person or Me >International>Alipay transfer. If you’ve already sent money to an Alipay recipient before, you can select the existing Alipay recipient’s name from the Send to list. Then, simply enter the transfer amount in USD and new recipient information (if applicable) to proceed.

To initiate an Alipay transfer to a new recipient on Online Banking, select Transfer & Pay>Transfers> Add a recipient to send money>select Person or Me >International>Alipay transfer. If you’ve already sent money to an Alipay recipient before, you can select the existing Alipay recipient’s name from the Send to list. Then, simply enter the transfer amount in USD and new recipient information (if applicable) to proceed.

East West Bank charges $15 for each Alipay transfer.

Your Alipay transfer may be returned to your East West Bank account due to one or more of the following reasons.

• This is the first time your recipient is receiving an international transfer: As a result, their Alipay account may not have a designated linked bank account. Alipay will send a notification to the recipient asking them to choose a designated linked bank account. Your recipient will have 24 hours after your transfer submission to designate an account, if the recipient fails to complete this action, Alipay will cancel the request and return the funds.
• Alipay or the receiving bank may need to perform verifications that can take up to 72 hours: If the verification is not complete within 72 hours, Alipay will cancel the request and return the funds.
• Other issues, such as monthly or annual foreign exchange limits, incorrect instructions, etc. may also cause a transfer to fail: If Alipay is unable to complete your transfer request for any reason, Alipay will cancel the request and return the funds.

For questions related to returned Alipay transfers, please have your recipient contact Alipay customer service.

Yes. Each Alipay account is subject to limits on the amount of foreign exchange transfers it can receive. These following are the limits that are set and enforced by Alipay for each remittance purpose category:

• Home Remittance / Salary
  • 50,000 CNY per transaction
  • 500,000 CNY per year
  • Maximum of 10 transactions per month
    
    
• Payment for Goods
  • 50,000 CNY per transaction
  • 600,000 CNY per year
  • No limit on the number of monthly transactions
    
    
• Payment for Services
  • 50,000 CNY per transaction
  • 300,000 CNY per year
  • No limit on the number of monthly transactions
    

If you are not sure if your Alipay transfer will exceed the recipient’s limits, please ask the recipient to inquire with Alipay.

Currently, the transfer purposes supported by the Alipay Transfer Service are “Home Remittance” or “Salary” / “Payment for goods” /” Payment for services.”

Home Remittance - allows you to send money to your relatives in mainland China.

• Transactions sent using the Home Remittance purpose category should be supported by documents evidencing proof of family relationship (e.g., birth certificate, notarization of kinship) and proof of income (e.g., pay stub, bank statements, tax return, or wage and tax statement).

Salary - is your income earned from working outside of mainland China under an employment contract.

• Transactions sent using the Salary purpose category should be supported by documents such as an employment agreement and proof of income (e.g., pay stub, bank statements, tax return, or wage and tax statement).

Payment for goods - allows you to remit a payment for goods purchased via an e-commerce platform when the purchase falls within one of the allowed for purchase description categories supported by Alipay.

• Transactions sent using the Payment for goods purpose category must be supported by a signed corresponding cross-border sales contract or agreement between you and the seller.

Payment for services - allows you to remit a payment when the service falls within one of the allowed for service description categories supported by Alipay.

• Transactions sent using the Payment for services purpose category must be supported by a signed service contract or agreement between you and the service provider.

East West Bank reserves the right to ask you to provide supporting documentation in order to verify and support your stated transfer “Purpose” before or after completion of the transfer.